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RED LIGHT CROSSING LAW |
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RED LIGHT CROSSING LAW |
A new School Bus Safety Act, adopted recently by the State Legislature, went into effect on January 1, 1998. This bill added Section 39831.3 to the Education Code and amended Section 22112 of the Vehicle Code. This bill has an urgency clause and becomes effective immediately. The law will apply to school buses operating everywhere in California. Because the Los Angeles Unified School District has more bus routes, by far, than any other district in the state, LAUSD is being joined by the L.A. County Office of Education to make sure motorists are aware of how the new "rules of the road" will affect their driving habits. LAUSD alone has approximately 30,000 bus stops every day on about 2,200 bus routes, plus field trip stops.
Section 39831.5 now adds the requirement of instruction on the use of passenger restraint systems that shall include, but not limited to, all of the following:
Proper fastening and release of the passenger restraint system.
Acceptable placement of passenger restraint systems on pupils.
Times at which the passenger restraint systems should be fastened
and released.
Acceptable placement of the passenger restraint systems when
not in use.
Section
22112 has been amended to read, the flashing red signal lights, amber
warning lights, and stop signal arm system shall not be activated where
traffic is controlled by a traffic officer. The school bus driver
is now required to use the flashing red light warning system and stop signal
arm system at official traffic signal controlled intersections.
Section
22112(e) also offers these exceptions: "Except at a location where
pupils are loading or unloading from a school bus and must cross a highway
or private road upon which the school bus is stopped, the flashing red
signal lights and stop arm requirements imposed by this section do not
apply to a school bus driver at any of the following locations:
School bus loading zones on or adjacent to school grounds or during an
activity trip, if the school bus is lawfully parked.
Where the school bus is disabled due to mechanical breakdown.
Where pupils require assistance to board or leave the school bus.
Where the roadway surface on which the bus is stopped is partially
or completely covered by snow/ice and requiring traffic to stop
would pose a safety hazard.
On a state highway with a posted speed limit of 55 mile per hour or
higher where the school bus is completely off the main traveled
portion of the highway.
Any location determined by a school district, with the approval of
the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to present a
traffic or safety hazard.
Section 22454(b)(1) has been changed to read: The driver of a vehicle upon a divided highway or multiple lane highway need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus that is upon the other roadway. For purposes of this subdivision, a multiple lane highway is any highway that has two or more lanes of travel in each direction.
A driver of a vehicle must now stop for school bus flashing red signal lights at official signal controlled intersections.
As part
of a required safety plan, LAUSD is currently training its drivers - both
LAUSD and contract drivers - regarding compliance.
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